The clamor of the holiday season means retailers face a lot of competition if they want to catch the attention of shoppers. Coming up with successful holiday promotions is no easy feat, but if you want to generate leads and encourage patronage during the heightened spending of the season, you need to find ways to get customers in the door. Here are just a few tips for launching successful holiday promos.
Discounts and Deals
Aside from the uber-markdowns of Black Friday, you’ll need to come up with ideas for discounts and deals designed to keep customers coming in through Christmas. One great option is to offer added value with a “get a gift/gift card with purchase” promotion. When shoppers spend a certain amount, they can choose from a limited range of give-away items or receive a gift card for themselves. You can also bundle limited-edition holiday gift sets for added value at discount pricing. Another great way to promote your sales and promotions is to have Sale Posters and Signs displayed around the store, customizing your posters with your exact sales giving your store that extra touch.
Social Incentives
You don’t have to look far these days to find people tapping and swiping away on mobile devices. As a retailer, you need to consider all potential means of connecting with customers, and these days, social media is boss. You can use that to your advantage this season by hosting holiday promos on social media that encourage patrons to participate.
The online culture of sharing demands new content all the time, and people want to compete. Just look at all the fads people join, like planking, flash mobs, the Harlem Shake, and the ice bucket challenge, just to name a few. As it turns out, people will participate for more than just online acclaim—they’ll also take part in challenges to earn goodies or do good.
Consider REI’s holiday promo #OptOutside. They close their doors on Black Friday and ask employees and patrons to do something they love outside, and post photos with the hashtag (and hopefully tag REI, as well). Outdoor Research took it a step further, saying that for every Instagram posted with the hashtag #OutdoorResearch, they’ll donate $10 to the charity, Paradox Sports.
This gets people involved with your brand in a social way and encourages them to invite family and friends to participate. They get to do something they love, be social, and feel good about helping a charity. For your part, you could also offer individual rewards like in-store discounts or coupons sent to their email.
Membership Rewards
The ultimate goal with promotions is sales, but you also want to get contact information for future interactions. To get people to provide their personal information, you have to sweeten the pot with membership incentives like exclusive discounts, club rewards, punch cards, or even raffles that are only available to members.
Whatever you do to promote during the holiday season, make sure that part of your goal is to make people feel good. Have fun and keep the spirit of the season in mind and you’re bound to gain more traction with shoppers.
If you are a customer or a soon to be customer of Specialty Store Services and would like more information on Sales Posters and Banners for your store, shop our website, Specialty Store Services, for all your retail store needs. If you have a question that you would like answered immediately, you can Live Chat, or phone us at 800-999-0771.